A hedge is a row of bushes or small trees that forms a barrier or boundary or, more generally, anything that forms a boundary or barrier. It is also an action taken to protect something, such as an investment. As a verb, to hedge means…
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July 2023
A sop is a piece of solid food, usually bread, used for dipping in liquid food like soups or gravies. Figuratively, anything completely soaked can be called a sop. Something of little value given to someone to keep them satisfied or quiet is also called a sop. Colloquially, a weak and foolish person is…
To droop means ‘to hang down loosely or sink,’ as from weakness, exhaustion, or because there’s no proper support. Figuratively, when we talk about spirits or morale, it means ‘to fade or flag’ and, poetically, when we talk about the sun, it means ‘to descend.’ A droop is a sagging, sinking, or hanging down…
Bulk is great size or weight and also the greatest part of something. We also use it, usually with a possessive adjective, to talk about someone’s body, especially a large and heavy body. To bulk means ‘to swell or increase in size,’ usually with the adverbs up or out, and, often with large, ‘to be of great…
You might know already that strip means ‘to remove your own or someone else’s clothes.’ More generally, it means ‘to remove the covering from something’ and even simply ‘to remove.’ It also means ‘to clear out, empty.’ Unrelatedly, a strip is a long, narrow piece of material, land, or water and, in US English, often with a definite article, also a commercial area along a road. The related verb to strip means ‘to cut something into…
